Netflix’s Stephen King Movie '1922' Looks Even Scarier Than ‘It’

It’s been a huge, huge year for Stephen King, but even though It just broke the record to be the highest-grossing horror film of all time, the horror author has said there’s one still-to-come adaptation that he’s especially excited about. And, based on the first trailer for Netflix’s 1922, it might just be the scariest one yet.

The movie is an adaptation of the novella of the same name, which King published in his 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars. The story follows an old-fashioned (even for 1922) farmer named Wilfred James, who views his wife Arlette’s wish to move to “the city” as a threat to his way of life. So, Wilfred and his son Henry slash her throat and dump her body in the well. That’s not the end of the story though, as something comes back to haunt him.

The trailer uses ominous narration, discordant music, a copious amount of rats, and what looks like Arlette’s undead corpse. The visuals are scary, but the remote setting and the palpable sense that Wilfred is a hard, frightening man who is coming undone are perhaps the most disturbing part of the trailer. It was scary, yes, but the movie was funny and really enjoyable to watch. 1922, meanwhile, looks like it might be straight-horror.

1922 hits Netflix on October 20.

Check out this video to find out why an important monster from the book It was cut from the film.